Immokalee Fire Control District officials say budget shortfalls are to blame for a delay in getting to a man who died because of injuries suffered from a chainsaw accident Saturday.

It took only a few minutes for crews from the Immokalee fire district to arrive after Esteban Cristobal-Antonio, 36, injured himself while cutting branches about 30 feet up in a tree he had climbed at 331 N. 15th St.

However, firefighters needed a ladder truck to reach Cristobal-Antonio, and the district sold its only one last year, said Immokalee Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Cunningham.

It took about 45 minutes for a ladder truck to respond from the North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District after an Immokalee battalion chief called for mutual aid, Cunningham said.

It’s hard to say whether or not a ladder truck on scene more quickly would have saved Cristobal-Antonio’s life, Cunningham said.

However, the risk of another tragedy where the district could use a ladder truck is always there, he said.

"This is such a horrific and tragic event for this family, who just lost their loved one,” Immokalee Fire Chief Michael Choate said. “Our firefighters felt helpless, and they are still dealing with this.”

Cristobal-Antonio was dead before he could be treated by emergency medical responders on the scene, according to an incident report from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

He was “bleeding profusely” and was not moving or responding to calls by the time a deputy from the Sheriff’s Office arrived, according to the incident report.

Antonio Juan, 50, lives at the trailer where the accident took place and had picked Cristobal–Antonio up earlier in the day so he could come over and cut the branches, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Juan had only recently met Cristobal-Antonio when he offered to trim the trees around Juan's residence.

Cristobal-Antonio was strapped to the tree in the air when Juan heard him yell and say he had cut himself.

After two minutes, Juan said, Cristobal-Antonio was no longer speaking or moving.

“I got lightheaded and scared, I have never seen something like that before,” Juan said.

The truck that initially arrived on the scene from the Immokalee fire district had a 24-foot extension ladder that reached just below where Cristobal-Antonio’s feet were hanging from the tree, Cunningham said.

The battalion chief on scene immediately called the North Collier fire district and the Lee County Electric Cooperative for assistance when he realized his crew could not reach Cristobal-Antonio, Cunningham said.

One of the bucket trucks from the Lee County electric company could have been used to help get the man down from the tree, he said.

"The battalion chief was going to use whoever got there first to help,” Cunningham said.

The ladder truck eventually used to bring Cristobal-Antonio down from the tree came from the fire station on Livingston Road north of Immokalee Road in North Naples.

Why was the Immokalee ladder truck sold?

The Immokalee fire district's ladder truck, which was purchased in 2015, had a platform that could reach 95 feet, Cunningham said.

Budget issues, including the loss of a grant used to retain firefighters and a fire fee referendum that failed in August 2018, contributed to the decision to sell the district’s only ladder truck, Cunningham said.

After the fire fee failed, the district was faced with laying off firefighters or selling the costly ladder truck, said Anne Goodnight, chairman of the Immokalee Board of Fire Commissioners.

The truck was sold in the fall of 2018 as it was bulky and not ideal for getting around in Immokalee or Ave Maria, and the district could not afford to lose any more manpower from layoffs, Goodnight said.

The ladder truck was too big for the district’s fire station and was purchased to be housed in a fire station in Ave Maria that still has not been constructed, Cunningham said.

Even when the district had the truck, there weren’t enough firefighters to staff it, he said.

“It was literally just sitting there, and the cost of standard maintenance and to keep it certified, even when it wasn’t in use, was around $3,000 a year,” Cunningham said.

The truck was sold to Brindlee Mountain, a company in Alabama that buys used fire equipment, for around $500,000, Cunningham said. It had originally been purchased for a little less than $900,000.

How could budget issues be fixed?

Fire Chief Choate said the fire district has been honest with the community about its budget shortfalls and why it needed revenue from the fire fee referendum that was on the ballot in August.

"We told everyone we were going to have to sell it (the ladder truck),” Choate said. “We had to sell it or we were laying people off, and we couldn't do that with the number of calls for service we get every day out here."

If the fire fee referendum had passed in August, the property tax rate would have dropped from 3.75 mills to 1.3 mills and the fire district would have added a flat fire service fee for a residential building of $369.

Nonresidential buildings would have been assessed a fee of 40 cents per square foot.

The referendum was met with resistance from leaders of churches and other institutions that are exempt from property taxes that would not have been exempt from the fire fee.

It also drew opposition from some business owners who were against paying higher taxes, and from those who said the fire fee would have disproportionately affected the poor and people with low property values in the community.

The fire fee was rejected by close to 70 percent of voters in the Immokalee fire district in the August election.

Money from the ladder truck sale was used to make up for deficits in the budget, Choate said.

“There is a need for a ladder truck in our district,” Cunningham said. “We just currently do not have a place to put it or the staff to put on it.”

Cunningham and Choate said Immokalee has a number of large packing house buildings that require an elevated water stream from a ladder truck to effectively put out flames.

"We will get us another ladder truck, we will. It's just going to take time,” Choate said. “At the end of the day, a man lost his life and that we can't forget. That we can't ignore.”

‘I think this is probably a wake-up call’

Robert Halman, an Immokalee fire commissioner for the last four years, said he hopes the accident involving Cristobal-Antonio helps the community realize the fire district needs more support.

“I think this is probably a wake-up call,” Halman said. “I hope the community starts to realize we are not there just for fire calls. I'm hoping this will show them there are needs for manpower and equipment.”

The fire commission will look into the possibility of bringing another fire fee referendum forward for a vote and using impact fees on new construction as a way to raise revenue, Halman said.

"We are looking at a couple of different ways to bring more money in,” Halman said. “The other thing we are trying to do is to be more efficient with the money we do have.”

Danny Gonzalez, president of the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce, said he was a supporter of the fire fee referendum that failed in August.

"We are going to be short on manpower here with the fire department, and things could get worse,” Gonzalez said. “This tragedy is a rude awakening for the people that really need to see what is going on.”

A new fire fee proposal that isn’t as expensive for residents and business owners could find support in the community, Gonzalez said.